Florida State University’s Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children (Stoops CFC), housed in the College of Social Work, was awarded a $2 million multiyear federal grant to address the urgent mental health crisis facing children and families in Florida’s Panhandle.  

The initiative expands access to early intervention services while simultaneously building a sustainable workforce pipeline, strengthening community well-being and employment opportunities in Leon County and surrounding areas. 

“FSU’s commitment to research-driven, community-engaged solutions is reflected in the Stoops CFC’s efforts to expand access to early intervention services and build a sustainable behavioral health workforce. By expanding and strengthening the workforce, we are addressing pressing community challenges while shaping national practice and policy.” 

— David Springer, dean of the FSU College of Social Work

“FSU’s commitment to research-driven, community-engaged solutions is reflected in the Stoops CFC’s efforts to expand access to early intervention services and build a sustainable behavioral health workforce,” reflected David Springer, dean of the FSU College of Social Work and a co-principal investigator on the project. “By expanding and strengthening the workforce, we are addressing pressing community challenges while shaping national practice and policy.” 

Led by Tai Cole, principal investigator and associate director of Stoops CFC, the initiative comes at a critical juncture for the region. Youth suicide rates in Northwest Florida remain among the highest in the state and some school districts report student-to-counselor ratios exceeding 1,000 to 1 — four times the nationally recommended standard. 

Workforce Development and Apprenticeships

A central focus of the initiative is the Behavioral Health Paraprofessional Training Level 1 and Level 2 Program with $1million being dedicated to stipends for apprenticeships, ensuring participants are compensated while gaining field-based experience. The program will recruit high school seniors, General Educational Development completers and recent university graduates to prepare and train them to serve as Certified Behavioral Health Technicians. Trainees receive trauma-informed care instruction, simulation-based crisis response practice and structured mentorship.  

“This program provides meaningful career pathways for young adults while simultaneously expanding urgently needed school-based and community behavioral health supports,” said Ellen Piekalkiewicz, director of Stoops CFC and a co-principal investigator. “It is an investment, both in our workforce, and in the resilience of our families and communities.” 

This initiative aligns with and builds on the interdisciplinary strength of FSU Health, which integrates the university’s health-focused projects and programs and works closely with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) to expand clinical, training and research opportunities across the region. 

“This program provides meaningful career pathways for young adults while simultaneously expanding urgently needed school-based and community behavioral health supports. It is an investment, both in our workforce, and in the resilience of our families and communities.” 

— Ellen Piekalkiewicz, director of Stoops CFC

As part of its broader strategy, FSU Health and TMH are also partnering to establish a new academic health center and teaching hospital in Panama City. This infrastructure expansion not only enhances access to care but creates new sites for clinical education, aligning directly with the apprenticeship model of the Stoops CFC grant initiative. 

By embedding behavioral health workforce development within the broader FSU Health framework, the initiative ensures that paraprofessional trainees are connected to a continuum of educational and professional pathway, from entry-level apprenticeships to advanced clinical training. This integrated model strengthens the long-term sustainability of the workforce pipeline across North Florida. 

The initiative also draws on collaboration between the College of Social Work and Anne’s College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, particularly the School of Teacher Education, to provide rigorous, evidence-based instruction. Local school systems, including Leon County Schools, and community partners such as DISC Village, Bay Area Youth Services (BAYS) and the Panhandle Area Educational Consortium, will host apprenticeships and provide direct service opportunities. 

“This grant not only expands access to mental health services for our students but also creates new employment pathways for young people in Leon County and throughout the Panhandle,” said Rocky Hanna, superintendent of Leon County Schools. “It is a win-win for families, schools and the regional workforce.” 

By its fourth year, the program is projected to train and place at least 200 behavioral health paraprofessionals across the Panhandle. Outcomes are projected to include increased access to timely support for students, expanded resources for families and a strengthened behavioral health system across North Florida. 

The Stoops CFC, recognized for its leadership of the Rebound and Recovery program and SAMHSA’s Southeast Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Center, is uniquely positioned to lead this initiative. By leveraging its expertise in workforce development, community partnerships, and now aligning with FSU Health’s regional clinical expansion, the center will continue advancing Florida State University’s mission to expand access to behavioral health care, particularly in underserved rural and coastal communities. 

For more information about the Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children, visit cfc.fsu.edu or contact Associate Director Tai Cole at tcole@fsu.edu. 

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Florida State University’s Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children (Stoops CFC Center) recently unveiled a traveling exhibit showcasing and amplifying the experiences of mothers impacted by substance use and involvement with the child welfare system at a reception at the Palm Beach County Library.

The exhibit, “Photovoice Study on the Intersection of Substance Use, Child Welfare, and Family Preservation,” marked the beginning of a broader public education campaign across Palm Beach County, which highlighted a participatory research method known as Photovoice.

“Using photography and storytelling empowers individuals, particularly from vulnerable communities, to document their experiences and share their perspectives,” said Ellen Piekalkiewicz, principal investigator for the project and director of Stoops CFC Center.

For the exhibit, mothers served as co-researchers and documented their journeys through photography and dialogue.

“Their reflections surfaced urgent themes around supportive care, collaborative practices, coordinated services and relational healing — each highlighting the human stories often obscured in systems-based conversations.”

— Ellen Piekalkiewicz, Stoops CFC Center director

“Their reflections surfaced urgent themes around supportive care, collaborative practices, coordinated services and relational healing — each highlighting the human stories often obscured in systems-based conversations,” Piekalkiewicz said. The study involved mothers primarily from Palm Beach County, whose experiences will inform its findings and recommendations.

The study’s findings underscore the critical importance of trauma-informed, flexible and family-centered approaches in child welfare policy and practice. The 21 participants shared their hopes, struggles and insights, contributing invaluable recommendations to inform systemic improvements.

The exhibit features photographs from two of the women who participated in the project.

Heather Howard, chief strategy officer at the Hanley Center and an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University, helped launch the project alongside the center’s staff.

“The results demonstrated the importance of supportive, collaborative, coordinated care and relational care between the child welfare worker and the mother-infant dyad,” Howard said. “When a safety plan is conducted, the child welfare worker can work collaboratively with the mother to support motherhood and provide hope for recovery and family preservation.”

The exhibit, supported by the FSU Florida Institute for Child Welfare and FSU Stoops CFC Center, will continue to travel throughout Palm Beach County, fostering dialogue and empathy among community members, service providers and policymakers alike.

“The kick-off event drew a large crowd of supporters and researchers, all committed to advancing family well-being through research-informed practice and human-centered care,” Piekalkiewicz said. “Our hope is that the traveling exhibit will inform an even broader audience about the lived experiences of mothers who have children involved with the child welfare system.”

For more information about the Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children, visit cfc.fsu.edu.

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Florida State University recently hosted “Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge,” a free workshop exploring the concept of adaptive resilience for the Florida Gulf’s coastal communities, with a focus on the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge.

The event was part of a National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (RCN) award project focused on resilient rural infrastructure. Its goal was to foster a new understanding of the complex interactions among key elements of community resilience in rural coastlines and inland areas to adapt to an ever-changing climate and potential natural disasters.

“This RCN project is about creating connections all over the United States, in addition to Florida, to develop disaster resilience actions, tools, strategies, plans and policies — with a focus specifically on our rural areas,” said Eren Erman Ozguven, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, director of the Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center and principal investigator on this project. “When you talk about rural areas, there are many different vulnerable populations that we need to consider.”

In 2022, Ozguven held a workshop with a focus on Hurricane Michael’s impact on rural areas in the Panhandle. Gathering leading community members, government, industry and researchers, this workshop provided insight on how to bridge the “resilience divides” these rural communities have been facing.

“We are now getting into the discussion with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and how Indigenous communities cope with disasters, learning from them, and we also hope to help them as well,” he said. “They have a way of enduring these events — so it is a way to gather their knowledge into disaster planning.”

“Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge” brought together experts from across FSU, including the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and its RIDER Center, the College of Social Work, the Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Center.

Representatives from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering faculty, FEMA, Florida A&M University Emergency Management and FSU Emergency Management were present as members of an emergency management professionals panel.

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